When the cat's away
by JellyBeanDiva
Summary: What happens when Calleigh's cat is missing? EC


Eric strode through the Miami Dade Crime Lab with a new case file in his hand. He noddeda greeting to Ryan as he passed him and made his way straight to the ballistics lab. When he walked in he noticed Calleigh was on the phone and by the sounds of the conversation it was something serious.

"Okay, so you'll let me know if you hear anything?" Calleigh asked. Eric noticed she looked a little distraught. "Thank you, I appreciate your help." She finished and hung up.

"Hey Cal." Eric greeted her with a smile. She returned the greeting with a roll of her eyes and a look that said 'What the hell do you want now?'

"We've got a new case." He sat down in the chair opposite her and passed the file to her.

"I don't really have time for this." She said knowing all too well that it didn't matter. Whether she felt she had time or not was irrelevant – she had a new case to work.

Eric shot her a questioning look, but handed her the case file anyway.

"Fine." Calleigh sighed as she closed the file. "Let's go." Standing up she grabbed her jacket and psyched herself up for another case.

As Calleigh and Eric drove out to the crime scene, Eric couldn't help but notice how distant Calleigh was.

"Cal, are you okay?" he asked suddenly. She snapped her head around, surprised by his question.

"I'm fine." She replied.

"It's just, well you seem a little distracted." Eric told her.

"I'm fine." She repeated. _Like saying it over and over makes it true. I'm not fine_.

"Okay." Eric didn't want to push it. He knew by now if Calleigh wanted to talk to him she would and if she didn't, well she wouldn't.

"My cat is missing." Calleigh said out of the blue.

"You have a cat?" Eric was surprised.

"Brownie." Calleigh told him.

"Don't worry Calleigh. Cats are independent creatures." Eric reassured her.

"Brownie never leaves the apartment." Calleigh sighed and stared out the window. Eric glanced over. He'd never been a cat person and he didn't get why Calleigh was so upset. Cats were wanderers, plain and simple.

"Hey, here we are." Eric quickly changed the subject as he pulled up to the crime scene. The police were already there to escort them to where the bodies were found.

Three hours later Calleigh had completed her processing and arranged for the bodies to be transported back to the morgue.

"Can you drop me at the Kinko's around the corner from the lab?" Calleigh asked.

"What for?" Eric asked in return.

"I need to get some posters." She said.

"For your cat?" Eric asked with a surprise in his voice that Calleigh didn't expect.

"Yes! For my cat." She stated.

"It's just a cat Calleigh." Eric shook his head. He obviously didn't get Calleigh and her attachment to something furry and independent.

"Just a cat!" she exclaimed. "You know what; I'll just get myself there." Calleigh said angrily before she turned on her heels and stalked away from Eric and the crime scene. Eric groaned and jogged after her. He grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Cal, I'm sorry." He said. "I didn't mean to sound…"

"Insensitive." Calleigh finished for him.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I am." He repeated. "I'll take you to Kinko's."

"Thanks." Eric released her arm and they walked back to the Hummer.

* * *

When Calleigh got home from the lab in the early evening she grabbed a quick bite to eat then headed out to start putting up the posters of Brownie in the hope that a neighbor or might have seen him. She had gone six blocks when her cell rang. 

"Duquesne." She answered.

"Hey, it's me." Calleigh would have recognized Eric's voice even without the caller ID. "Are you at home?" he asked.

"No."

"I went by the lab, you weren't there."

"I'm a few blocks away from my house." Calleigh explained. "What did you want anyway?"

"Oh right. Uh, I got a hit on the case, thought you might want to look at it." Eric said.

"I guess." Calleigh realized she only had a small number of posters left anyway.

"Okay, I'll pick you up in twenty." Eric said. Calleigh gave him the name of the street on the next block. She could finish putting up the rest of the posters before he picked her up. As she affixed another poster to a lamppost she stared at the picture of Brownie. _Where are you?_ She asked. _I miss you_.

The next day Calleigh was hard at work on her and Eric's case but she couldn't get her mind off her missing cat. She had had Brownie for a long time and the dumb cat meant everything to her. She felt like part of her was missing without him around. He was always there to give her affection after a long and tiring day. _Please come home Brownie_. As she tried to focus on the work in front of her another distraction arrived in the form of Eric.

"Hey Cal." He greeted her. "Got anything for me?" he asks.

"Not yet." She kept her head down and Eric watched her for a moment.

"You still down about your cat?" he asked. Calleigh lifted her head and met his eyes. When her blue eyes locked with his, Eric saw a sadness he hadn't seen for a long time. _She looks like she's lost someone she loves,_ he thinks.

"I'll have the test results in a few hours, but the trace analysis could take some time." Calleigh said.

"Okay, well whenever you're done I guess." Eric said.

_He's being very understanding and not pushy at all _Calleigh realized. Normally Eric would have been more anxious for information.

For the first time that Calleigh could remember clearly, she had chosen her life over her work. Unable to concentrate she abandoned her work at the lab and headed home so she could go out looking for Brownie. Now, walking up and down the streets around her home she called out for him. _Maybe he's just lost. Maybe he's hurt?_ She ran thousands of scenarios through her head like being hit by a car or a kid on a bike.

"Brownie!" she called. "Brownie!" She was out for several hours but there was no sign of the cat. _Maybe he's gone?_ Calleigh felt a kick in the pit of her stomach. _I can't loose Brownie._ But as the sky opened up and a cold rain began to fall Calleigh realized she wasn't going to get much further. She called it a night and jogged back to her house feeling disappointed.

After drying her hair and changing into dry clothes Calleigh settled down on the couch with some tea and a book. _Brownie would usually be sitting on my lap_ she couldn't help but think. Half way through the book the doorbell rang, startling Calleigh. She slipped a bookmark in the book and rose to answer the door. When she pulled it open she saw a squirming wet cat and her eyes widened and sparkled with delight.

"Brownie!" she exclaimed.

"I think this belongs to you." Calleigh's eyes traveled up to the person holding the cat. Her eyes widened further when she saw a very wet Eric. He held Brownie out and Calleigh gratefully took the large cat in her arms and hugged him close.

"Uh Cal, it's kinda wet out here." Eric grumbled.

"Sorry, come on in." Calleigh stood aside and let Eric inside. "Eric, how did you find him?" Calleigh asked as she put Brownie down on the kitchen counter.

"Long story." Eric replied. All Calleigh's attention was on Brownie as she used a towel to dry the cat off.

"You know, I could use one of those too." Eric said. Calleigh looked at him and notices the rain dripping off his hair onto his face and pooling around him on her kitchen floor. His jacket and T-shirt were also soaked through.

"Right." Calleigh was surprise that she found herself flustered at both the return of Brownie and that Eric was the one to return him. She left Brownie on the counter and disappeared to her bedroom. Eric stood awkwardly with Brownie while she was gone. Eric would tell anyone at anytime that he was not a cat person. He kept asking himself why he would traipse around in the rain for this one.

"Look's like Calleigh is happy again." He said to the cat. "Don't you ever do that to her again." He scolded playfully, as if the cat actually understood. He spun around when Calleigh returned.

"Here." She passed him a towel. "Your jacket and shirt are soaked, I can dry them for you." She handed Eric a large T-shirt. "Come on Brownie, it's the blow dryer for you." Calleigh scooped Brownie into her arms and headed back to her bedroom leaving Eric alone in the kitchen.

The minute she walked into her bedroom, Calleigh remembered that she needed the towel she had been using on Brownie and that it was still in the kitchen. She hurried back to get it but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Eric. He had taken off his jacket and was currently removing his T-Shirt. His back was to her and she could only stare as his muscles flexed with the movement. _Turn around, turn around, turn around_ she thought. At that moment, a shirtless Eric did turn around.

"Hey Cal, this T-Shirt looks very familiar." He help up the T-Shirt she gave him and grinned; fully aware that the T-Shirt he was holding was one Calleigh had stolen from his place and what his naked torso was doing to her. The look on her face said it all. _I can't speak. Why are my words not coming out?_ Calleigh stood like a statue until something kicked in.

"Uh yeah, it's your shirt. I borrowed it from you a few months ago when I slept at your place." She reminded Eric of the few days that she stayed at his place right after he was released from the hospital. Calleigh crossed the room and picked up the towel lying on the counter. "I left this." She said. She found it very hard to drag her eyes from Eric's chest and she knew he had noticed. With her standing just a couple of feet away, Eric pulled on the dry T-Shirt, again flexing his muscles and teasing Calleigh.

"You'd better go dry that cat of yours."

"Yeah, right, the cat." Calleigh turned on her heel and hurried back to the bedroom. _What the hell just happened?_ She asked herself. _Since when does Eric leave me speechless_?

Fifteen minutes later Calleigh carried a happy and dry Brownie back through. Eric was hanging out the kitchen. Brownie leapt from Calleigh's arms onto the counter and padded about.

"So where did you find him?" Calleigh asked. Eric leaned against the counter and folds his arms.

"A few blocks away under some bushes." Eric admitted. "Poor thing was shivering and meowing." _When did I go all soft for cats?_ He wondered.

"Thank you." Calleigh said sincerely as she walked over to him. "I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost him for good." Eric turned to the side so he and Calleigh were facing each other.

"What made you go out looking though? I got the impression you didn't like cats." Calleigh let a smile tug at her lips. Eric stood up straight and took a step closer to her.

"It was important to you." He said softly. "Which means it was important to me." _I'd do anything to make you happy_. He lifted his hand and tucked a lock of hair behind her left ear. Calleigh dipped her head slightly, very nervous about how close Eric was. He leaned forward, bringing his head closer to hers. She locked eyes with him as his lips hovered close to hers. Just as Eric was about to kiss Calleigh, Brownie meowed and leapt off the counter, into Eric's arm, forcing them to split apart.

Shocked at what he almost did and where Brownie landed, Eric pulled back. _Was I about to kiss her?_ He wondered._ I wanted to_. Calleigh practically ran to the other room, Brownie jumping onto the floor and following. _Was he going to kiss me?_ She wondered. _Do I want him to kiss me?_ She asked. The resounding answer was a _Yes! Yes! Yes!_ But the moment had been spoiled by Brownie. Calleigh wass about to curse the cat when she remembered how bad she had felt when she thought she had lost him. Instead, she picked Brownie up off the floor and carried him through her apartment to her bedroom. She closed the door, keeping him inside, and returned to the kitchen and Eric's side. _He looks embarrassed_ she noticed. _Maybe he didn't mean for that to happen_ she worried.

"That cat has really bad timing." Eric said, smiling at Calleigh.

"Uh huh." Calleigh nodded numbly. Eric stepped towards her again.

"Maybe I could try that again." He whispered. With one hand cupping her face he brought his lips back towards hers. This time there is no cat to jump between them. Calleigh closed her eyes as Eric's soft lips brushed hers and sent shivers down her spine. As he pulled back and removed his hand from her face Calleigh felt a cool rush of air between them. She immediately wanted him back where he was. When her eyes opened Eric had a goofy grin on his face.

"I never thought you'd let me do that." He admitted softly. Calleigh cocked her head to the side.

"You did something special for me." She said. "That deserves a special thank you."

"Well that was definitely…special." Eric looked down for a moment then found Calleigh's eyes. Calleigh looked at him, wondering what was running through his mind. All she could think about was getting Eric's lips back on hers.

"You know Eric, there are a lot of things you do for me that I never thank you for." Calleigh grinned. "Maybe I should start making up for that." Eric accepted the invitation. He gathered Calleigh in his arms and capturing her lips with his, he kissed her like she'd never been kissed before.


End file.
